


I see fire

by VulpesKorsak



Category: Far Cry 5
Genre: Deputy is also a prophet, Flirting, M/M, Prophetic Visions, Secret Ending, Songfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-10-21 05:22:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17636732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VulpesKorsak/pseuds/VulpesKorsak
Summary: Deputy Rook has visions of the future for most of his life. He has recently moved to Hope County hoping that the place he was born at would bring peace to his soul, but instead, he is met with a cult that definitely was not here when he last checked and the worst vision he has ever had in his entire life.





	1. I once was a child

**Author's Note:**

> This is a set-up/backstory chapter. All the action will start in the next. I will, of course, be adding characters and tags as I post new chapters.  
> The song this is based on is "I see fire" by Ed Sheeran that is actually freaking perfect for Far Cry 5 in general, though I have yet to see anyone mention it.

The very first time Rook has a vision he doesn’t know what to think, so he doesn’t think about it at all.

Yeshua Rook had his tenth birthday just a week ago. He spent all of them in a small house in Hope County. Now that he is almost an adult his mom finally lets him go to a sleepover. The sun has just begun setting and he is sitting on a stone wall that goes around his house and watching people go by. Every few seconds he turns his head to look at the street corner in the distance.

He is waiting for his friend’s mom to pick him up. On the ground next to him is his backpack with everything he will need. He spent a good hour packing for his first ever night outside his parents’ watch. He is proud of how good he has prepared. His mom complimented him on that after checking the backpack. He is determined to not disappoint her, be a good guest and not cause any trouble. He is extremely excited.

His heart begins beating faster when he sees the car he has been waiting for in the distance.

He jumps off the wall, grabs his belongings and runs towards the road. Almost bumps into his neighbor going about her business. He apologizes and his neighbor Miss Jersey smiles and pats his head excusing him.

One moment he stands under the setting sun feeling the warm hand of his friendly neighbor on the top of his head and the next he is surrounded by flames in a room with flowery wallpaper. There is so much smoke. He feels the unbearable heat of the fire getting closer. Before he can even think about it he is in a hospital room by a bed. A monitor of some kind is beeping weakly but steadily. And on the bed there is a person covered in bandages with a breathing mask on.

Next moment he is back by his house. He gasps for air feeling dizzy and there is a sharp pain in his right temple. In a couple of seconds it’s gone. Miss Jersey looks at him with a worried expression. He has to play it off as having a sudden headache (and that is not a lie). He wants to ask his mom about this weird fire he saw. But his friend’s mom is almost here and he doesn’t want to miss the night he has been waiting for for so long!

 

Two days later he wakes up in the middle of the night to the sound of a fire truck driving through the neighborhood. Miss Jersey’s house is on fire. He is worried but doesn’t connect it to what he saw right away.

Miss Jersey is his favourite neighbor. Sometimes she comes to help his father with their little garden and brings them a basket of berries from her own garden. His parents take him with them to visit her. His sadness turns into shock as soon as he enters. It is exactly the same hospital room he saw! The same beeping monitor and the same person in bandages and that breathing mask. But now he knows it’s Miss Jersey.

He gets scared and doesn’t tell anybody except for his little sister Sarah who tells him he should not bring it up to anyone or else he’d be locked up in a government facility. She says she saw that in an action film once (mom let her watch it, when dad was not at home): people having strange visions and then being chased and experimented on by the government (who turn out to be aliens in disguise). They swear to each other that they will not tell anyone about it. And they do not.

 

Years go by and more visions come. Most of them are innocent enough.

 

He sees an older kid at school being scolded by a teacher for skipping classes the moment they touch elbows by accident. He does not get dizzy and doesn’t have a headache. But then he watches the same exact scene at a lunch break.

 

He sees Sarah get bitten by a lizard they have just caught in a jar when they high five each other in celebration, so he grabs her hand and leads her into the house, then releases the lizard by himself. His sister doesn’t get bitten and he realizes that what he sees is not set in stone. 

 

They move from their small town to an enormous city when their mother runs away with another man and his father can’t stand staying in their old house any longer.

“She changed everything about her life, so why can’t I do the same?” He says.

 

Rook’s visions come more often when his teenage years begin and he notices patterns in them, gets a rather good understanding of how they work. He only gets them when strong emotions hit him, doesn’t matter good or bad.

He remembers being super happy because he did great at a test when he bumped into that bully. He was mad at his parents when he and his sister went hunting for bugs and lizards.

And it has to be direct skin to skin contact. Or, according to his first vision of Miss Jersey, skin to hair will also do.

He does not get a headache or dizziness unless he sees something horrible happen. And the worse they are, the worse his pain is.

 

He is very upset by a nightmare when his dad sends him to buy groceries one horrific morning. He sees a woman from a nearby grocery store get run over by a car at night when their hands brush against each other a little as he gives her the money. His head feels like it is being split open as he tries to warn her. But he doesn’t want to sound crazy, so he tries to explain that he has a bad feeling about her going out at night, but she thinks he’s just being a cute kid worrying for her for no reason. So she doesn’t listen and a day later he doesn’t see her at work. There is only her colleague who looks like she is about to cry.

Another day goes by and he walks by a small stand near a local bar. Under a photograph of the saleswoman there is the name he used to see on her badge, two dates in black, three flower bouquets and a burning candle.

He feels devastated. He did not do enough. He knew what would happen and he could not stop it. He could have done more. Could have taken action. He did not try hard enough. Was too much of a coward.

 

Rook wears gloves most of the time. He does not want to see anymore. People at school laugh at him and his new weird fashion choice.

 

But sometimes this ability of his turns out to be very helpful. He breaks the rule of not telling anyone after his best friend Lance gets to witness his ability as he stops a store robbery and saves its manager’s life. He tells a security guard that he noticed that one of the customers had a gun in his pocket. The guard does not believe him, thinking he is paranoid, so Yeshua keeps an eye on the guy himself. He grabs his gun, but Rook reacts fast tackling him to the floor. The guard finishes the job arresting him and calls the police. He turns out to be a fairly dissent guy and buys Yeshua a few drinks after work. They date for a year.

 

After their eventual break-up and a falling-out with his sister he enlists in the army where his commander and a couple of fellow soldiers also witness his ability at work. No matter how many people they save following his guidance, there are always more of those whose death or horrific injuries he is unable to prevent.

 

He returns home after almost losing an arm and finds out that his sister gave birth to twins and has opened her own little bakery. After their reunion he spends two years living in a small apartment over the bakery and working as its caretaker as he recovers. He feels the urge but he can’t recognize what it is for. He assumes for action.

 

Yeshua goes through training and becomes a police officer, but that does not satisfy him in the slightest. For a while his life is full of noise and dirt and stress. As he searches for himself Sarah’s friend brings up Hope County in a conversation. She says she was also born there and that her aunt still lives there, working as a dispatcher of the Hope County Sheriff Office. As Rook listens to her describe the life in the area and it reminds him of his childhood there. Life was a lot simpler at that time. Less gray and not filled with millions of people. He realizes he wants to go back to that kind of lifestyle more than anything else in his life. He knows Miss Jersey still lives there and that there are quite a few empty houses, including the very same small house he grew up in. And the local Sheriff Department is hiring. So he decides to follow his gut, that tells him that moving back to Hope County would bring something very interesting into his life.

 

And, oh boy, is his gut right. As he steps into the church and comes face to face with the infamous Father and his siblings he wishes it were not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please, comment and leave kudos if you enjoyed it.


	2. Shield me from sorrow, from fear of tomorrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rookie.” Burke says. “Cuff that son of a bitch!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants to talk to me about Far Cry 5 or the upcoming New Dawn, or just chat in general, maybe about fics or fandoms or whatever, you can find me on Tumblr, my username is vulpeskorsak  
> I'd be happy to chat.

A woman is standing in the middle of a huge field. It is well past midnight. She is dressed in nothing but an old outstretched shirt that covers her almost down to her knees. She is breathing heavily. Her legs are in pain. The soles of her feet are covered in dirt and small scratches. She is lost. She has no idea where she is. But she’s made it. She got away. She has been telling herself that she would do this for almost a year now. But today she finally gathered up enough courage.

In the morning she opened the door for a new police officer. He was tall and broad-shouldered. His skin was tanned and he had his blond hair in an undercut and brushed to the right side. She recognised him from a photo in the local paper. He’s been the talk of the town since he had saved a little boy from a crazy white wolf, that launched itself at the boy out of nowhere. The rookie deputy put himself between the two and shot right into the huge bastard’s open mouth. It had only been his second week in Hope County, though people whispered about him being born here. And this new hero of the local mothers came to check on her because of noise complaints. She, of course, could not tell him about Brad’s drug business or his abuse, but he looked concerned and worried, so she had to let him in for a cup of tea and a little chat. She was as careful about her words as always, but she could not miss the realization that came up on his face as he was shaking her hand before leaving. “It’s not as scary at night as people say it is,” he whispered to her before heading back to his car.

“Surely not scarier than it is here,” she whispered to herself.

When her husband lashed out at her once again this night, she fought back and she hit him with a pan and she ran away.

And now she is alone in the middle of an unfamiliar field. At least she has never seen it at night. She sobs and continues her way through it. She knows that she did not kill him, she checked for his pulse. But that means that he could be following her already. The thought of that terrifies her. Her pace get faster and faster until she is running again. She is almost by the river bank when she hears somebody large moving through the nearby bushes in her direction. She squeaks in panic and races towards the water. Somebody is running after her. It is Brad. It is Brad and she is a dead woman. The river may be her only chance. The bastard can’t swim, so unless he has a gun with him-

“Miss Cooper!” Shouts the person behind her. “I mean you no harm!”

The voice is not Brad’s. In fact she recognises the voice of the police officer from before. She comes to a sudden stop slipping and falling to the sand.

She looks back at the officer approaching her. He reaches for his radio and reports finding her. The local wolf-fighting hero.

“Don’t worry, miss,” he says helping her up. ”We’ve got him. Just tell us everything that happened, and you’ll to be okay.”

“Thank you.” She manages, her voice is weak and there are still tears in her eyes, but she closes them for a moment, because she can allow herself to do that now. “What’s your name again?”

“Deputy Yeshua Rook.” He smiles at her and she knows that everything is really is going to be alright now.

She cries on his shoulder in relief.

  


For Rook finding Miss Cooper is a great relief. His unnatural Gift saved a life yet again. However, this time it has also put him in a chair in his boss’ office. Sheriff Whitehorse listens to his puny lie about finding her by accident and sighs. He says he doesn’t believe him and demands to hear the real reason.

“Well… I…” He mumbles, knowing that he is going to have to tell the truth and that the Sheriff is not going to believe him and that he is going to lose his job in five minutes. “I can see the future… Now I know how that sounds! But I swear I am not crazy… Just sometimes when I touch people I can see what is going to happen to them sooner or later. Something bad, usually. Not always. Sometimes it’s something pleasant… I mean- I- Fuck.”

He sighs and slowly looks up at the Sheriff, afraid of seeing disappointment and annoyance. But there is none. He looks at him calmly. There is a hint of confusion in his eyes, but other than that he seems to be seriously considering Rook’s words.

“Sheriff, I swear-” He begins.

“Calm down, Rookie.” Whitehorse interrupts him. “It is true, that it sounds weird as hell… but after what you did last night. And that time with the wolf. As well as finding that trucker’s body… Plus, I’ve seen you catch that bottle when we came to stop the bar fight a week ago like you were ready for it. You are either a deranged criminal mastermind of Moriarty scale… Which I highly doubt… or you’re a psychic… Which is preferable.”

“Wait. Do you actually believe me?” Rook’s eyes open wide in shock.

“Should I not?” The Sheriff hums.

“No-no-no!” He shakes his head. “I mean, yes, you should believe me. Thank you.”

“I’m guessing, not many do, huh?” Whitehorse laughs.

 

The helicopter lands safely by the gates of the church. Sheriff Whitehorse looks the most nervous Rook has ever seen him. Everyone looks anxious, to be honest. Rook’s own hands are trembling lightly, though thankfully no one can see that. He swallows and takes a deep breath before getting out of the helicopter.

“Stay safe.” Pratt tells him as he does that.

“You too, man.” He whispers back.

This is the most important operation he has participated in since he joined the department. He suspects the Sheriff took him with them purely because of his Sight. A regular rookie would not have ended up here.

They walk through the compound full of people in white.

He has not met Joseph in person before. A lot of so-called “peggies”, Jacob (twice) and John Seed (once), but not the Father himself.

Rook has heard a lot about this dangerous and cruel, yet enigmatic preacher. People around the county are saying that he kidnaps and kills people, though there was no proof right until the videotape they managed to get their hands on.

His people are armed to the teeth, though that is not, technically, illegal. Dogs are barking at their small team. To say they are outnumbered would be an extreme understatement. They are here exclusively to arrest Joseph, but his people clearly demonstrate how they feel about the idea.

Marshal Burke is impatient. He demands quick and confident actions. But he does not understand the situation the way Whitehorse does, Rook thinks. These people are not going to stand here and watch as they take away their Father. Their religious figure. Practically their own local Jesus. Even on an actual battlefield Rook did not feel such tension as here. Every single person is waiting. Waiting for a command. People and dogs waiting for the leash to be released, so they could launch themselves at the enemy.

Joseph is preaching at the moment. His voice can be heard from the church.

From what Rook knows Joseph claims to be hearing the Voice (of God?) and seeing glimpses of the apocalyptic future. The Collapse.

“What if he is just like me?” Rook thinks, not for the first time since he first heard of him.

Whitehorse opens the door and they step into the church. The listening followers get up and turn to them.

Joseph keeps preaching, cleverly incorporating their entrance into his speech. Rook can kind of see the appeal.

When they are next to him, Burke gets impatient, despite Whitehorse’s numerous warnings.

“Joseph Seed!” He shouts with confidence. “I have a warrant issued for your arrest on the suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to harm!”

The followers step towards them.

“Now, I want you to step forward and keep your hands where I can see ‘em!” Finishes Burke, looking around nervously.

They can all feel raw hatred filling the room. The people are angry, a few threats can be heard from the back of the church.

“Here they are…” Joseph tells his men. “The Locusts in our garden… You see they’ve come for me.”

The crowd of his followers walks in front of them, shielding Joseph with their bodies. And their guns.

“They’ve come to take me away from you. They’ve come to destroy all that we’ve built!” The Father continues aggressively.

They are on the verge of growling like beasts. Sweat drips down Rook’s neck. He knows they won’t attack unless he commands them.

“Now hold on.” Whitehorse starts speaking.

But he is immediately interrupted by the crowd’s advance towards them. They shout and spit at them. And for a moment Rook thinks that this is it. Burke reaches for his weapon. The men raise their rifles and shotguns.

“Do not touch that service weapon!” Rook can hear Whitehorse’s firm voice, struggling to outshout the angry mob. “Hold on and stand down! Stand down! Everybody calm down!”

Every single shout is stopped at once when the Father steps forward.

“We knew this moment would come. We have prepared for it.” He tells his men. “Go... Go.”

The peggies lower their weapons and the crowd starts dispersing.

“God will not let them take me.” He finishes.

The peggies leave one by one, snarling as they bypass their group. Rook lets out a sigh of relief. It is not nearly over, but at least it is not as bad as it could have been. They won’t be torn apart by the crowd… at least right now.

“I saw when the Lamb opened the First Seal, and I heard as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts say, come and see…” Joseph Seed is standing with his arms raised up. He is shirtless, as Rook has heard he always is when he is preaching.

“Step forwards!” Burke commands.

“And I saw!” He steps forward and points at Burke, then turn to the sheriff. “And behold it was a white horse…”

“Okay, that’s fucking brilliant.” Rook thinks, barely holding back a nervous laugh.

“And Hell followed with him.” Joseph brings his hands forward in front of Rook.

He is a little shorter than Rook himself and he is now staring up directly into his eyes. He is wearing a pair of weird yellow sunglasses, even though it is night time. Rook wonders if there is some sort of a problem with his eyes.

“Rookie.” Burke says. “Cuff that son of a bitch!”

“God will not let you take me.” They stare at each other for a moment.

Joseph’s bare skin spots many different tattoos, all religious in some way. He has words carved into his flesh, though Rook can’t really read them, because he feels awkward just staring at his naked body when the man himself is trying to look him in the eyes.

Rook hesitates. And Joseph can clearly feel it. The look in his eyes is challenging as if he is asking “Would you even dare?”

His siblings are standing behind him.

Jacob Seed looks at them with cold interest, his arms crossed. Rook has seen him twice, talked to him once. He’s a brick of a man, both in his hair colour and his body type. But a very smart brick, to be honest. He would not want to have this guy as his enemy. Not in a million years.

John Seed is standing with his arms behind his back, in his always-present, yet always-perfect coat. They met once for a very brief time. He is the richest and the most handsome of the Seedlings. He looks smug, though Rook can see him shifting from one foot to the other constantly, unable to fully hide his nervousness. Rook can’t imagine what he himself would feel if Sarah was about to be arrested in front of him. He clenches his fists a few times to calm himself down a little.

It is his first time seeing Faith Seed. She is a lot younger than he expected. She is smiling, but it is not hard to tell she is anxious. She is not that good at hiding that at the moment. Her eyes flicker between him, the Sheriff and the Marshal. Her smile is strained, there is animosity in her eyes and she is playing with the edge of her white dress.

“Rook!” He hears Burke’s annoyed voice.

It snaps him back to reality. He looks at the sheriff for a moment and he nods, so he returns his eyes back to Joseph Seed’s face.

He slowly stretches out his hand and takes Joseph’s wrist. His eyes narrow ever-so-slightly, but then widen more noticeably with interest, as Rook lets go of his hand suddenly and in one swift motion takes one of his gloves off.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?!” Burke shouts, grabbing him by the shoulder, but Whitehorse intercepts, gently guiding his hand away from Rook without a single word.

Jacob shifts behind Joseph and John tilts his head in confusion.

And then Rook grabs the Father by the wrist yet again, his hand bare this time.

That’s when he sees Hell.

 

He is looking at… Deputy Rook. It is the middle of the day and he is standing outside of his church. His hands are cuffed behind him, his chest is bare and his body hurts like hell. He’s been beaten, but he did not lose. There are several people around him. The locals, the Deputies and the Sheriff. But they are not paying attention to him, they are all looking at something behind him.

“It is finished, child.” He tells Rook and starts singing “Amazing Grace”.

There is a loud blast and suddenly everyone is panicking. They are running and screaming. He is hurriedly led to a car and as he gets inside he sees a cloud of dust, smoke and rubble that covers everything outside for a moment. But the car engine starts and the cloud disperses. Now he can finally look at what they were so scared by. Through the car window a massive mushroom-like cloud can be seen in the distance.

And they are on the road. Deputy Pratt, who was strictly conditioned by his now-deceased brother Jacob, is to his left, screaming and praying. To his right Deputy Hudson, who managed to escape the late John’s wrath, is crying out and cursing in terror. The Sheriff, a reasonable and honest man, almost swayed by the poor-poor Faith, is on the front seat trying to keep some semblance of order in the car. And Deputy Rook - the man who started it all and is now ending it all, is driving like a madman towards the nearby bunker, where his fight against the Project of Eden’s Gate began and where it is going to end.

There is another blast and the sky turns red. All the trees and bushes and even birds in the air - everything is set ablaze. There are cars blasting past them, crashing and exploding. Rook skillfully avoids every obstacle that comes their way. The flaming trees, the running and burning animals.

The world is dying in front of their eyes.

They drive up to the bunker and-

“LOOK OUT! TREE!”

 

Rook is dropped back into his own body. He hears a deafening scream and then realizes it is his own. He jerks back, away from Joseph and the sea of fire. Away from death and panic.

Usually, his head hurts after his Visions, but this time, his head is exploding with pain and his body… his body feels like it was set on fire.

He grabs his head with both of his hands. His legs feel wobbly and weak. Somebody helps him keep his balance by grabbing his wrist.

He opens his eyes again. There is no fire. The world is not going to end. Right now.

Joseph is holding him by his wrists and looking him in the eyes with visible shock. Rook heard stories about his confidence and ability to keep his cool in any situation, but now his eyebrows are raised and his eyes are wide open, his mouth gapes for a second.

But this all ends in a moment, the realization lights his face and he puts both of his hands on Rook’s wrists, dragging them away from his face, closes his eyes and brings their foreheads together in a gentle touch.

“You see now.” Joseph whispers to him. “But do not worry, you are safe here.”

Rook closes his eyes and breathes in and out a few times, not questioning Joseph’s lack of concept of personal space.

“What the fuck?!” The Marshal’s voice brings him back to reality for good and he takes a step back, getting away from Joseph. He is still hurting all over, but now it is not nearly as bad and he can think more or less straight again.

He looks around and sees Burke’s shocked and irritated face, as well as Whitehorse’s terrified one. The Seeds behind Joseph are staring at them both with obvious confusion. John takes a step towards them and opens his mouth as if to say something, but Jacob stretches out his arm and blocks his way shaking his head. Faith just looks lost. She casts a few unsure glances at John and Jacob. Jacob tilts his head and John shrugs his shoulders in response.

“Hey, Rookie?” The Sheriff asks him, putting his hand on his back. “Are you okay? Should we not-?”

“Put the fucking cuffs on the bastard!” Burke’s voice is filled with rage. “And then we’ll deal with your… panic attack or whatever that was!’

“Shut the hell up!” Whitehorse snaps. “Rook, is this a bad idea?”

Rook looks at him for a moment in absolute silence.

“We must get the hell out of here.” He says, emphasizing “must”. “There could not be a worse idea.”

“Wha-” Burke begins, but Whitehorse ignores him.

“Okay, then let’s go.” Whitehorse states and they both turn back, bypassing the Marshal, who curses and swears to sue them both. Whitehorse dares him to try.

Rook steal one last glance at Joseph, who nods at him and smiles with unexpected warmth.

They open the doors of the church and Rook takes a deep breath of fresh night air. Hudson is looking at them in surprise.

“What did you see, boy?” The Sheriff asks him quietly, colour drained from his face, as they walk towards the helicopter.

“I saw fire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, liking and commenting! Your support means the world to me!


	3. Come meet the man who reaps the land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Just a second!” He shouts as he hurries down the stairs wondering who the hell it could possibly be.  
> “Maybe Staci came to check on me? That would be very nice of him. Or-” He does not finish thinking as he opens the front door.  
> There is indeed a familiar face. But not the one he has expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a delay! I've finished this chapter a while ago and just needed to edit it. And then I had some uni stuff to do. And then New Dawn came out (My poor heart aches so much as I play it.) and I got a bit... carried away.
> 
> If anyone wants to talk to me about Far Cry 5 or New Dawn (please, talk to me about New Dawn!), or just chat in general, maybe about fics or fandoms or whatever, you can find me on Tumblr, my username is vulpeskorsak  
> I'd be happy to chat.

Deputy Rook is given a well deserved, in both his and the Sheriff’s opinion, day off after that night. He’s done with Burke barking at everyone at the station. At one point he felt a strong need to punch the man, so he told his boss about it and was immediately sent home, because Whitehorse knows that Rook is, for the most part, not a violent man and his anger means that somebody really crossed the line.

“I’ll handle him, Rookie.” He told him with a pat on the shoulder. “Go get some rest. You really need it.”

Rook was of course worried about getting arrested and all, but judging by the fact that Burke had more than an hour to make a call or whatever he threatened to do, and yet he chose to spend this time arguing with the Sheriff and shouting at the poor Deputies… he’d say they are going to be okay. Maybe he should come up with some sort of a story, just it case they need to write a report… but that should also be done by the Sheriff, because Rook is, and he is fully aware of that, pretty fucking terrible at lying.

It’s still dark when he finally gets home. Even after two and a half months this house still feel strange to be in again. Every inch of it reminds him of his childhood in some way. The place was not renovated much, only given a minor facelift since his family lived here. There is no furniture of theirs, of course, but he still recognises the very floorboard in the kitchen that he once bled all over after falling off his bike.

His own furniture is… there is not a lot of it. But even with how little there is he realizes that the house is tiny. It is perfect for him alone, but as a child he never noticed that it was too small for four people.

Without bothering to turn the light on he shakes his boots off and locks the door behind himself in one clumsy motion and then drags his body to the couch, taking off his uniform along the way. He drops his clothes in a pile on the empty wooden coffee table and drops himself onto the sofa. It is a great sofa. The best fucking sofa ever. Soooo soft. But not too soft. Just the right kind of soft

His Visions usually wear him off a little, if it’s somthing minor, sometimes a lot, if it’s something very deadly, but this one seems to have drained his life essence out of him.

He feels empty and too tired to even think at this point. He falls asleep fast and, thankfully, has no dreams.

 

He does not wake up until next afternoon. He turns from his stomach to his back and stretches out his limbs. Yep, right what he needed, half a day of sleep.

Rook yawns and sits up slowly, he looks outside just to make sure the world did not end while he was sleeping. Nope. Doesn’t seem to be the case. His front yard is a disaster, but that’s not the apocalypse’ fault.

He thinks back to his Vision. Clearly, Joseph is right about this Collapse thing. But… Rook wonders if it is stopped.

The whole idea of it is that it is a prophecy. From what he has gathered from the Vision he understands that him and Joseph were fighting in the middle of the day, and that all the Seedlings besides Joseph himself were dead.

“Was this supposed to be today?” He considers as there was not much indication on when his prophecies would come true or what he should do to prevent them from doing so. “Let’s say I would have put the cuffs on him… And then maybe something would happen for us to be fighting all through the night and then morning and then day. So somebody would have killed Jacob, John and Faith… but Joseph was also thinking about some weird shit regarding his... my colleagues. Okay, let’s forget about that, since I have no way of knowing what that was about.

So after their deaths and maybe a shoot-out with Joseph and his men (judging by all the people with guns) the whole hell-fire scene would have happened… No. That does not make much sense. Since there were indeed some locals gathered there with their guns. Nick… Nick Dye? Nick Lye? Whatever. The pilot guy… And Hurk Junior. And, most importantly, I was not wearing my uniform… And I had a bow on my back? For some reason?... Fuck. Too weird.”

He groaned in confusion. It was so fucking complicated… and extremely important… But he should not panic for the sake of everyone. He should not tell anyone, or else he’ll be deemed crazy, just like Joseph. Maybe if everyone just believed Joseph in the first place, he would not have to go all cultshit-crazy.

Most likely this apocalypse thing was not going to happen today in the first place and that means that he is not sure if him not arresting the Father had any effect on triggering the Collapse. Maybe it was merely a warning that the Father is doing the right thing after all.

Joseph did kill that man on the tape in a brutal manner. But besides that? Only rumors. Some of them most likely true. But not much evidence. His family, John specifically, did buy a shitload of land and the cult did own a whole bunch of guns… But buying land is not a crime. If they are merely using it to stock up on food and build more of their bunkers - that’s a good thing.

And if having their Father untouched is enough for them not to put all of those guns to use - so be it.

If he managed to avoid the catastrophe, then all is well and he won’t have to worry about it. And if he did not, there is still time to prepare, to save as many as possible. And during this time having the Eden’s Gate as the enemy would be the worst thing possible. Their bunkers can save the whole county.

But he, at the very least, still has time until anything bad happens. And he can’t really think anymore right now. He is starving! And he needs a shower.

Rook gets to the kitchen and searches through his cupboards for something edible. He finds a frozen pizza in a freezer and chucks it into a microwave. As it is being prepared for him (oh, thank the god of laziness!) he gets upstairs and into the shower.

He lets out a loud moan of pleasure as the hot water touches and surrounds his body.

“Fuck yeah. This is perfect.” He says outloud enjoying the water and chuckles. “I really gotta stop talking to myself.”

He turns the water off and wraps himself in a fluffy towel.

That’s when he hears the doorbell ring The sound is not the same as it was when he was a kid, he notes to himself, as he pulls on his lounge pants and wipes his feet on the bathroom rug.

“Just a second!” He shouts as he hurries down the stairs wondering who the hell it could possibly be.

“Maybe Staci came to check on me? That would be very nice of him. Or-” He does not finish thinking as he opens the front door.

There is indeed a familiar face. But not the one he has expected.

Jonh Seed is standing on his porch. He is an exceptionally attractive man with very neat hair and a perfect beard Rook can only dream of. He is wearing the same coat as at night (“Fucking awesome coat!” Rook thinks.) and there is a pair of blue sunglasses on his head. Just in general a lot of blue in his costume. It all compliments his pretty blue eyes.

When Rook opens the door he is smiling all nice and friendly. His eyebrows go up a little as he sees Rook and his smile widens ever-so-slightly as he very quickly glances down and back up his body.

For the first time Rook notices that John is a whole head shorter than him. Must be pretty awkward having to look up since there is so little distance between them.

“Deputy! Good afternoon!” John clears his throat after a second of silence and addresses him. “It’s nice to see that you’re feeling better today.”

“I- Thanks, I guess.” Rook raises one eyebrow and smiles back at him with uncertainty. “Good afternoon, Mr. Seed.”

“John is alright.” He shakes his head. “Just John.”

“Ah. Okay, John.” Rook scratches the back of his neck, unsure what he wants with him. “How can I help you?”

“Well, I actually have something of-” John is interrupted by a loud beeping sound.

“Oh, sorry! Microwave!” Rook backs into the house beckoning John to come inside. “Come in, I’ll be back with you in a second!”

Rook walks into the kitchen and presses the button on the microwave, opening it. He absolutely hates the sound it starts making if you don’t open it after the first signal. And he needs a second to take in the fact that one of the leaders of a local cult whose brother he was about to arrest less than a day ago is now in his doorway. Is he going to threaten him? He does not look angry. Perhaps he just wants to talk? Did Joseph send him?

Rook guesses he’s going to find out.

He goes back to the hall, where John is now standing, looking around noticeably unimpressed. Yet he smiles at Rook again.

“Everything’s alright?” He asks casually.

“Yep. All good.” The Deputy nods. “Is your thing going to take more than a couple minutes?”

“I hope so.” John tells him. “Is that a problem?”

“No… No, it’s alright, it’s just that…” Deputy begins as he narrows his eye and looks to the side, considering for a moment and then. “Do you want some frozen pizza? I’m about to fucking starve here.”

“Um... Sure?” John looks surprised. “Why not?”

He takes a step away from the door and Rook locks it, while John takes his coat off and hangs it, taking something out of one of the pockets.

Rook clears his throat and points at Johns shoes. “Would you mind taking these off too?”

John shrugs and follows his order. Rook leads him into the kitchen and gestures for him to sit down as he goes to retrieve pizza from the microwave.

“So, as I was saying.” John continues. “I actually came to give you something back… also I have some questions. But since I now don’t have to talk you into sparing time to do so…”

John puts the object he had in his hand onto the table when Rook turns to him with a pizza plate in hands. He quickly puts down the too-hot plate and examines the object that turns out to be his glove. He briefly recalls taking this one off in the church and then the second one as he came home, but realizes that he completely forgot about their existence up until this point.

He hums and moves the glove away from the centre of his table.

“Thank you, John.” He smiles at him. “So…umm... What did you want to talk about?”

“What happened yesterday?” John asks watching Rook slice pizza.

Rook stops midway through a slice. Judging by the way Joseph reacted he thought Joseph recognised a person just like himself and… Rook just assumed he told his siblings as soon as their team walked out of the church.

“Didn’t Joseph explain?” Rook raises his eyebrow and continues slicing.

“No… The Father can be… very vague at times, and this time he beat his personal record in that.” John frowns a little, . “He said nothing about the events that took place this night, besides our mission “going in an unexpected direction”. And I would really like to know what we are dealing with.”

Rook does not look up at him, considering what he can even tell him. He has so many things that he needs to consider and questions that he needs to find answers to. Would he believe if he told him about his Sight? Does he actually believe in what his brother preaches?

He finishes slicing the pizza and moves the plate to the middle of the table still looking down at it. Is him being here a good or a bad sign? Is he an enemy? As far as Rook knows it was only Joseph who actually messed with the law and killed someone. The locals do not like John, but he is clean of any actual crime. Rook thinks it would be good to have this guy on their side. From what he has heard and judging by their previous encounter he is smart and resourceful. And influential. Having him as an ally in case the world comes crashing down would be very good. Or at least not getting on his bad side.

But then again he could be as dangerous as his brother. Rook has no idea what’s on his mind. What drives him to be here at Rook’s place? Confusion? Curiosity? Some sort of a personal need to know everything about what’s going on?

He also has no clue.What drove him to offer this guy fucking pizza of all things? Rook really needs to work on controlling his random impulses.

He finally looks at John and notices him staring. It probably was a little too long of a pause on Rook’s part and John got distracted.

Rook traces his stare down to his exposed torso. Oh, right, he is not wearing a shirt, so that must be a bit awkward for John. Rook keeps getting in trouble with people who think he is a flirt or a pervert, but he swears he just sometimes forgets. When his emotions are stable or when he is alone and there is no way he can get a Vision from touching anyone he relaxes, perhaps a bit too much… Last week Hudson yelled at him for showing off (Staci laughed his ass off) when he took his shirt off at the station after getting rained on.

“I have ice-tea.” He tells John to break the probably uncomfortable silence. “Do you want some?”

“Wha-” John raises his eyes up hurriedly and smirks. “I’m sorry. Got a little.. lost in thoughts, since you needed to compose yours. What?”

“Do you want some ice-tea?” Rook repeats with an awkward smile. Shit, so he was thinking for too long. “Sorry, I don’t have anything fancy. Or alcoholic.”

“Sounds alright... Don’t worry, I don’t need alcohol to see a gorgeous man here.” John winks at Rook, who feels heat crawl up his face. Oh. Okay. So he is not as religious as brother?

 “So what about last night?” John goes on after Rook puts two glasses on the table. “What happened between you and my brother?”

“Alright. I think I may tell you.” Rook sighs. “But first, I need to know. Do you believe Joseph?”

“Yes. Of course.” John does not hesitate a bit, looking somewhat offended. “He is my brother.”

“I mean, in terms of him being a prophet. Like hearing the Voice and having visions.” Rook raises his hands in defence.

“Yes, Deputy, I do.” John nods. “I am fully aware of his… reputation, but he truly is a righteous man. He helped me and so many more get through tough times through his words. He has already led us onto the path of redemption and light. And I do not doubt that he was chosen to lead us further - through the Collapse and into the New World, clean and free of sin.”

“Ah… I see.” Rook is not particularly religious himself, but he doesn’t mind. “So basically you do believe that there are powers much greater than us, right?”

“Yes.” John nods again with a smile.

“So you will believe me if I told you, I have... access to those?” Rook swallows nervously.

John narrows his eyes but keeps nodding.

“I can see.” Rook says slowly. “I can see things that nobody else can… Well, except for Joseph, it seems.”

“Wait, you mean you can also-?” John stares at him in disbelief.

“Yes, I get Visions of the future. Whenever I touch a person. And I experience any kind of strong emotions.” Rook explains. “I can see from that person’s perspective, in the most cases. Something that is going to happen to them. It is usually some pretty bad or sometimes straight up terrible things.”

John does not say a word. Just stares at him intently.

Rook sighs and goes on. “So yesterday as we came to-”

“Arrest my brother, yes, I remember.” John huffs.

“Yes, sorry, but I was merely doing my job.” Rook frowns but shakes his head and relaxes again. “I wanted to make sure that what we were doing was right. The Sheriff kept trying to convince the Marshal not to go through with this. And I trust his judgement.”

“Your Sheriff is a smart man.” John nods.

“He is.” Rook agrees. “So I decided that I should “connect” with Joseph, see if anything bad is going to happen if we proceed. And indeed I had a Vision.”

Rook stops talking, unwillingly recalling the feeling of heat on his mostly bare skin and it does not help that he does not have a shirt on in real life as well. He can still hear Pratt’s terrified screams and the general sense of dread that surrounded him. Even Joseph would be scared in a situation like that. Scared but singing.

“So you were Joseph in your Vision, right? Just to clarify.” John’s voice snaps him back to reality.

“Yes.” Rook’s throat feels like a desert, so he takes a sip of his ice tea and a big bite of a pizza slice, hoping that focusing on a strong taste in reality would ground him there and keep him from drifting back to that fiery hell.

“What did you see?” John looks and sounds impatient as he watches him eat, but waits until he swallows.

“I saw the world end, John.” Rook says finally when he can talk clearly. “I saw the Collapse you were talking about. I saw fire and death and destruction. I saw my own attempt to escape it.”

John is silent. His mouth hangs open and his eyes look panicked.

“S-so. Is it going to happen soon? The Collapse? The Father never gave us the specific time. But we should increase the speed of our preparation.” He gets up suddenly, leaning on the table towards Rook. “When? Do you know?”

“No. Surely not today.” Rook answers simply. “Could be in day, could be in months… could be that by not arresting Joseph we somehow prevented it? Did not trigger the Prophecy or whatever?”

John visibly relaxes and sits back down.

“I’m guessing Joseph realized what happened to me at that moment. If he knows what it is like to have those Visions…” Rook says and the room goes silent for quite some time.

 

They sit in silence for a while, eating pizza. John is thinking, trying to comprehend the fact that his brother is not the only one who was blessed by the Lord. He would have had a hard time believing him, if it weren’t for Joseph’s reaction in the church. The Deputy in front of him also keeps quiet staring at the table as they eat.

John should go back soon. He has other business to attend to, but he could not stop himself from coming here. He had to know the truth and Joseph was not going to give it to him easily. Frankly speaking, John was not too sure that Joseph himself actually knew what exactly happened. He looked... confused? They were all expecting that Joseph would be arrested.

His plan worked better than he had thought. Finding that glove on the floor of the church was pure luck. It gave him an excuse to visit the Deputy, but he was sure he would have to talk his way into getting inside the house and somehow make him spill the truth. But the Deputy turned out be like an open book. He did not treat John with animosity or even annoyance. He guesses he has yet to talk to anyone about that Vision of his and John just happened to be the first one to give him an opportunity to get it out of his system. He probably does not even have that much people he can tell without sounding like a madman. He is not Joseph, he does not have any loyal and understanding followers.

John considers his visit a success. He got the information he wanted…

He also learned that this Deputy hides a gorgeous body under his uniform. And doesn’t mind showing it off. John will remember that.

It would be hard to forget, he is quite distracting. Maybe too distracting.

He has places to be and a Collapse to prepare to.

But it’s been a while since he got laid, with all the hard work for the Project he had to do lately. The Deputy looks like a prime candidate...

No. No. He is busy now... but he’ll come back for this hunk of a man.

John gets up to wash his hands, as well get a chance to look at the guy from a different angle.

Yes. That’d be a jackpot... if he can get him to say yes.

He dries his hands with a paper towel and steps closer to stand behind the sitting man.

“I think you need to come see Joseph. I’m sure he would be glad to talk to you about this.”

“Where can I find him?” The Deputy asks turning to look at him. He looks tired. He probably needs some time to be alone now. John understands that.

“He’s at the church mostly, these days… Thank you for your hospitality, but I have places to be now. Unfortunately.” He smiles and puts his hand on his bare shoulder, testing the waters. “Though I think I have some other things I want to discuss with you later on.”

“Yeah.” The Deputy swallows with a nervous smile. “Sure. You’re welcome.”

He does not move away from the hand, so he strokes his shoulder lightly.

“If you ever need to find me, I spend most of my evenings… and nights at my ranch.” He leans down and purrs into his ear. “Do you know where that is, Deputy?”

“I do.” The Deputy answers quietly to match him. “I’ve seen it from afar.”

“Good. Good.” John straightens his back, chuckling silently at the blushing Deputy.

He get out into the hall and puts his boots and coat back on, as Deputy Rook also gets up and follows him.

“I hope we see each other soon, Deputy.” He opens the door and looks at him with the most charming smile he is capable of.

“Same.” The man mutters still blushing. “Goodbye, John.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, liking and commenting! Your support means the world to me!


End file.
